Game Over! Halo 3 Zaps Wii

Game launch boosts XBox 360 sales beyond Nintendo console

By Peter Fearon, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 19, 2007 12:36 AM CDT

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Game Over! Halo 3 Zaps Wii — Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, right, hands over an autographed copy of Halo 3 to the first customer Ritesh David, 17, of Bellevue, Wash., at the midnight release of Halo 3 video game for the Microsoft Corp. Xbox 360 at the Best Buy store in Bellevue, Wash., on Tuesday September 25, 2007. Hundreds of... (Associated Press)

The launch of Halo 3 helped XBox 360 sales to zoom beyond Nintendo Wii, making the Microsoft system the hottest selling console in September. MarketWatch reports the extraordinary popularity of Halo 3 also helped push video game software sales up 64% over the same period last year. Game consoles were up 188% - way beyond expectations.

Consumers bought 3.3 million Halo 3 games in the first two weeks after launch. "We expected software sales to soar due to Halo 3, but hardware sales are impressive this month," said one market analyst. "The Wii had its second best month ever as more inventory made its way to stores and into consumers hands." (More Halo 3 stories.)

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